BRISBANE, Australia - Record numbers of Australians are visiting adult websites, including sexually explicit dating sites—one-third of visitors were female, while 20 percent were under 18 and 5 percent were 65 or older, according to research conducted by Sydney’s Morning Herald.
Surprising new figures show more than one-third of Internet users visited an adult website at least once in the first three months of this year. The data also revealed that 4.3 million Australians viewed pornography or visited a sex-oriented matchmaking site on the Internet at least once in the quarter ending in March. This figure represents 35 percent of all those who used the Internet in that period.
In March alone, 2.7 million Australians went to an online adult website, an increase of 500,000 in 18 months. Wealthier people were more likely to view a pornographic site, according to the study.
Australian psychologists and relationship counselors say Internet pornography is a new and growing cause of relationship strife and breakdown as increasing numbers of men become compulsive users.
"It’s a growing problem with big implications for the public health dollar," said Brett McCann, a senior lecturer in the sexual health program at the University of Sydney.
An investigation by the Herald has uncovered the destructive impact obsession with pornography can have on couple’s sex lives, women’s self-esteem, and sense of trust.
At the same time, others are warning against a moral panic, citing research that shows pornography consumers overwhelmingly report positive benefits. Alan McKee, of the Queensland University of Technology, who with colleagues conducted a survey of more than 1000 self-selected pornography users, said 58.8 percent said it had a positive effect on their attitudes about sex; only 6.8 percent said it was negative.
"Australians who use pornography say it not only gives them pleasure, but broadens their minds and provides a valuable sex education," he said.
And, while some women have "suffered from their partner’s Internet porn obsession, women in general are considered the new consumer growth market," according to Fiona Patten, chief executive of the Eros Association, the adult retail industry company. "Despite the Internet having transformed the way pornography is consumed, the number of sex shops has also burgeoned."
